I recently purchased a home with a 35 x 15 in-ground pool, about 40 years old. It hasn't been functional for at least the last 10 years. I've checked on repairs and find that they are out of my price range. The pool sides are marine plywood and the bottom is cement. I've removed the vinyl liner, pump & filter. The pool is empty, but for a few inches of water & I can't get the drain to function.

I want to fill it in and put a patio on top, but need to ensure the fill will drain properly. Does anyone have suggestions about the best material to fill it with? Also, does the concrete itself need to be removed, or just broken up? I live in the Pacific NW & can't seem to find anyone with experience with this. THANKSI recently purchased a home with a 35 x 15 in-ground pool, about 40 years old. It hasn't been functional for at least the last 10 years. I've checked on repairs and find that they are out of my price range. The pool sides are marine plywood and the bottom is cement. I've removed the vinyl liner, pump & filter. The pool is empty, but for a few inches of water & I can't get the drain to function.

I want to fill it in and put a patio on top, but need to ensure the fill will drain properly. Does anyone have suggestions about the best material to fill it with? Also, does the concrete itself need to be removed, or just broken up? I live in the Pacific NW & can't seem to find anyone with experience with this. THANKSI recently purchased a home with a 35 x 15 in-ground pool, about 40 years old. It hasn't been functional for at least the last 10 years. I've checked on repairs and find that they are out of my price range. The pool sides are marine plywood and the bottom is cement. I've removed the vinyl liner, pump & filter. The pool is empty, but for a few inches of water & I can't get the drain to function.

I want to fill it in and put a patio on top, but need to ensure the fill will drain properly. Does anyone have suggestions about the best material to fill it with? Also, does the concrete itself need to be removed, or just broken up? I live in the Pacific NW & can't seem to find anyone with experience with this. THANKS

I had one removed at my old house a few years back. It was all concrete, top to bottom and was pretty hard to demolish. The guy who did it really stressed the importance of proper drainage around the area. He said if the ground water didn't have somewhere to go, there would be big problems later on. He punched several large holes in the bottom of the pool before knocking down the sides and filling it in. Here are some pictures of the process of him demolishing the pool:
home(dot)comcast(dot)net/%7Ephil(dot)detweiler/PoolDemolition(dot)html